Help needed - Overstayer?

[Anon2016]

Hi, just after some advice and clarification.

My husband applied for the first part of his ILR (5 year route) 2.5 years ago and was initially granted leave his expiry date to sumbit new ILR was mid May this year. Unfortunately he lost his Passport and BRP card prior to the application and was told he need not apply for a new one, as he would do this at the extension application stage (due to not enough time remaining to apply for a new one).

He submitted the application form and had enough money in his bank account etc prior to the expiry date. After not hearing back from home office he called today and they said they had already written to him in May and that they explained he made a few errors;

1. One of the pages of the application was missing
2. He didnt pay for health surcharge - which he didn't realise he needed to (silly mistake)
3. He needed to go to a post office within 15 days with a bar code they gave to sort BRP

The letter stated if he did not send them the missing details within 10 working days or he risked would becoming an overstayer.
It is now passed the 10 days to send the information back. Also he is passed the 15 days for the biometric.

What does this mean for him? Will his application be deemed rejected or invalid due to the errors? (He is on the phone trying to find out.

If they deem it invalid he will become an overstayer over the period of 28days allowed (which I assume does not mean 28 working days but incl of weekends too). Does this mean he will be deported or asked to leave without any chance of appealing? We did not receive both the initial letter or any further letter yet to say he's an overstayer. It seems like a postal problem but we have no way of proving this.

What happens next? Will he defin have to return back to his country or is there a way round it.

Thanks.

[Casa]

Hi, just after some advice and clarification.

My husband applied for the first part of his ILR (5 year route) 2.5 years ago and was initially granted leave his expiry date to sumbit new ILR was mid May this year. Unfortunately he lost his Passport and BRP card prior to the application and was told he need not apply for a new one, as he would do this at the extension application stage (due to not enough time remaining to apply for a new one).

He submitted the application form and had enough money in his bank account etc prior to the expiry date. After not hearing back from home office he called today and they said they had already written to him in May and that they explained he made a few errors;

1. One of the pages of the application was missing
2. He didnt pay for health surcharge - which he didn't realise he needed to (silly mistake)
3. He needed to go to a post office within 15 days with a bar code they gave to sort BRP

The letter stated if he did not send them the missing details within 10 working days or he risked would becoming an overstayer.
It is now passed the 10 days to send the information back. Also he is passed the 15 days for the biometric.

What does this mean for him? Will his application be deemed rejected or invalid due to the errors? (He is on the phone trying to find out.

If they deem it invalid he will become an overstayer over the period of 28days allowed (which I assume does not mean 28 working days but incl of weekends too). Does this mean he will be deported or asked to leave without any chance of appealing? We did not receive both the initial letter or any further letter yet to say he's an overstayer. It seems like a postal problem but we have no way of proving this.

What happens next? Will he defin have to return back to his country or is there a way round it.

Thanks.

1. You say that your husband has only completed his first 2.5 year of limited leave to remain, but then you mention qualifying for his first ILR. He needs another 2.4 year FLR(M) extension before qualifying for ILR at the end of the five year period.
2. I'm confused about the lost passport/BRP. Did he submit a valid passport with his visa application?
3. If an applicant fails to provide biometrics after the first request has been sent, a second letter is sent to give another opportunity to do so. Didn't you a second biometrics letter either?
4. The current application is now likely to be considered invalid. What was he advised over the phone?
5. You mention that your husband had enough money in his bank account. Money for what? Funds held in the bank aren't required, but proof of minimum income of £18,600 p.a is mandatory. These can be joint earnings.
6. Do you have children?

[Anon2016]

Hi, just after some advice and clarification.

My husband applied for the first part of his ILR (5 year route) 2.5 years ago and was initially granted leave his expiry date to sumbit new ILR was mid May this year. Unfortunately he lost his Passport and BRP card prior to the application and was told he need not apply for a new one, as he would do this at the extension application stage (due to not enough time remaining to apply for a new one).

He submitted the application form and had enough money in his bank account etc prior to the expiry date. After not hearing back from home office he called today and they said they had already written to him in May and that they explained he made a few errors;

1. One of the pages of the application was missing
2. He didnt pay for health surcharge - which he didn't realise he needed to (silly mistake)
3. He needed to go to a post office within 15 days with a bar code they gave to sort BRP

The letter stated if he did not send them the missing details within 10 working days or he risked would becoming an overstayer.
It is now passed the 10 days to send the information back. Also he is passed the 15 days for the biometric.

What does this mean for him? Will his application be deemed rejected or invalid due to the errors? (He is on the phone trying to find out.

If they deem it invalid he will become an overstayer over the period of 28days allowed (which I assume does not mean 28 working days but incl of weekends too). Does this mean he will be deported or asked to leave without any chance of appealing? We did not receive both the initial letter or any further letter yet to say he's an overstayer. It seems like a postal problem but we have no way of proving this.

What happens next? Will he defin have to return back to his country or is there a way round it.

Thanks.

1. You say that your husband has only completed his first 2.5 year of limited leave to remain, but then you mention qualifying for his first ILR. He needs another 2.4 year FLR(M) extension before qualifying for ILR at the end of the five year period.
2. I'm confused about the lost passport/BRP. Did he submit a valid passport with his visa application?
3. If an applicant fails to provide biometrics after the first request has been sent, a second letter is sent to give another opportunity to do so. Didn't you a second biometrics letter either?
4. The current application is now likely to be considered invalid. What was he advised over the phone?
5. You mention that your husband had enough money in his bank account. Money for what? Funds held in the bank aren't required, but proof of minimum income of £18,600 p.a is mandatory. These can be joint earnings.
6. Do you have children?

Hi thanks for your reply, sorry I meant to say FLR not ILR. In response to your questions;
1. I meant FLR not ILR
2. He didn't send with application as he lost it just before applying. They said not to apply for a new one as it would not come back in time. Hence they say they sent a letter with instructions and a bar code to go to nearest post office to get re-enrolled.
3. No second letter has come through and it's defin been over 15 working days from the point they say they sent first letter.
4. I don't know the update yet as I have had to come out of the house. Waiting for him to update me.
5. He had enough money for application fee I mean, but apparently he needs to also pay a health surcharge? Which he didn't realise.
6. We have one child 1 years of age.

Whether his application is invalid or rejected I fear he has not responded in the given time frames due to not receiving the letters they say they have sent and is now an overstayer over 28 days. What does this mean for us? Can he appeal this in any way? Or it is pretty black and white from this point onwards?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice given.

[noajthan]

Do you have a copy of the application?
Was correspondence address correct?

Has your address changed recently (eg due to a house move)?
Have you received any letters at all from HO?

Do you have problems with receiving (or losing) other mail (eg shared mailbox)?

[Casa]

How did he submit the application without a valid passport? Who said not to apply for a new one as a new passport wouldn't come back in time?
It's by no means a black & white situation. As you have a child, if this application is confirmed to be invalid you may be able to submit a FLR(FP) application, but wait for others to comment.

[Anon2016]

noajathan - We have a copy of the application we made as we kept a copy. We haven't seen copies of the correspondence yet but they read out the address etc and it was all correct and we have been receiving other mail just fine. We have lived at the same address from the beginning so should not be any confusion.

Casa - He noted on the application that the BRP etc was lost. What is FLR (FP) please?

Thanks for your replies btw. Much appreciated.

[CR001]

He should have applied for a new passport. BRP not an issue if lost but he definitely should have submitted a passport. HO or whoever told you not to apply probably was only referring to the BRP card.

How did you/spouse miss the 'Immigration Health Surcharge Reference Number' section of the application form?

[Casa]

I realise the BRP was lost, but an applicant is required to submit their current passport. How did you get around this?
FLR(FP) - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... t_2015.pdf

[Anon2016]

CR001 - I think then he must have misunderstood and thought they meant both, rather than just BRP. I didn't miss it as I didn't do the application, he did it and said it was all in hand. I filled in the bits for me and he filled out the rest. He did it right the first time so I didn't think I needed to check it this time - he has a friend who does this for him and helped the first time too.

Casa - Well we haven't got round this at all, like I say he noted it on his application about it being lost and posted it as he knew it wouldn't come back in time before the expiry date, thinking this would be sufficient. Silly of him I know.

I've just googled FLR (FP). As he is now classed as an overstayer and has exceeded the 28 days grace, I don't think he can apply using family route as our baby is not 7 years old yet and he hasn't been in the UK long enough? Correct me if anyone knows otherwise.

We just wanted to know what can we do at this point? As when searching the internet it seems, any overstayer of over 28 days will automatically get applications rejected. We don't have any exceptional circumstances that I can see that exempt us from this.

[Casa]

Have you read through the link I posted for you?

[Anon2016]

Hi Casa, yes I did, but I am assuming we won't qualify for any of the routes as it's been under 5 years that we have been together (3 years). I couldn't find the exact rules or criteria to be valid for the extension of stay but as it says 5/10 year routes, I am guessing it does not qualify us? Correct me if I am wrong.

Mad at my husband for making so many errors and unimpressed by HO and their lack of letters even though they claim to have sent them. Confusing situation to be in.

[Casa]

You may qualify if your current FLR(M) application is rejected.

[Anon2016]

What even if he is more than 28 days over since the rejection would have been recorded?

[Casa]

I believe so, but you haven't received written confirmation of a refusal have you?

[Anon2016]

No, I think they are counting the application as invalid due to not submitting a correct application

[Rvarshini]

Hi,

We were also on the same boat, but for ILR.
We have missed the post from HO and then we passed the 15days biometrics and also the HO asked to resend my photo within 10 days and i have passed those 10days.
But then i wrote a coveeing letter saying that we havent received their communication on time and then posted a new application on 20th may and then we received our biometrics appt letter on
6th june.
Im also still confused about the overstay..
Please help

[Rvarshini]

Have u tried submitting a fresh application with a covering letter
Please dont worry. Everything will be fine